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GT500 + Stray Cone = Repairs


TAHOE GT

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Well, I managed to have an unfortunate encounter with a stray highway cone today. :censored::cry::censored: I need to have the fascia, lower lights, grille & fuel tank replaced. My question to my esteemed colleagues is: Would you choose the Ford Dealer's body shop or a local high-end (MBZ, BMW, etc.) shop to do the work? Have any of y'all had dealings with Ford's shops? Any quality issues?

 

Thanks

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Well, I managed to have an unfortunate encounter with a stray highway cone today. :censored::cry::censored: I need to have the fascia, lower lights, grille & fuel tank replaced. My question to my esteemed colleagues is: Would you choose the Ford Dealer's body shop or a local high-end (MBZ, BMW, etc.) shop to do the work? Have any of y'all had dealings with Ford's shops? Any quality issues?

 

Thanks

 

I have always gone for Quotes and find the Ford dealership has the best price plus I believe it is warranted by Ford for the life of the car. The one particular Dealership I purchase from uses an outside body shop for all their paint and bodywork. The shop has one of the best paint/bodyworkers in the province. :yup: Fantastic work. Fully covered by Ford Warranty. :yahoo:

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I have always gone for Quotes and find the Ford dealership has the best price plus I believe it is warranted by Ford for the life of the car. The one particular Dealership I purchase from uses an outside body shop for all their paint and bodywork. The shop has one of the best paint/bodyworkers in the province. :yup: Fantastic work. Fully covered by Ford Warranty. :yahoo:

 

 

This is one point you need to ask the dealership and get in writing. The way Dodge runs their program is that once a dealer does warranty work/repair work it is up to that specific dealer to cover repairs to the parts that they worked on. Again this was Dodge so take it for that and just ask your dealer.

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This is one point you need to ask the dealership and get in writing. The way Dodge runs their program is that once a dealer does warranty work/repair work it is up to that specific dealer to cover repairs to the parts that they worked on. Again this was Dodge so take it for that and just ask your dealer.

 

I agree with you sbornitz. The fact is that the Dealership I use states on the paperwork "Fully covered by Ford Warranty". This helps a little. I never want to give Ford a reason to mess with my warranty. :rant:

I would see what your Dealer tells you.

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Well, I managed to have an unfortunate encounter with a stray highway cone today. :censored::cry::censored: I need to have the fascia, lower lights, grille & fuel tank replaced. My question to my esteemed colleagues is: Would you choose the Ford Dealer's body shop or a local high-end (MBZ, BMW, etc.) shop to do the work? Have any of y'all had dealings with Ford's shops? Any quality issues?

 

Thanks

 

 

Pictures please :cry: so I can see how tough it is compared to the ones I seen jumping thru the window for the movie stunts :cry:

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Pictures please :cry: so I can see how tough it is compared to the ones I seen jumping thru the window for the movie stunts :cry:

 

 

Tonight. I gotta get my camera.

 

Funny thing, though - some of my students said that they saw the cone in the road (where I stopped dragging it) and ran it over. Payback!

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No No and No! I'd definitely be going with the Best Bodyshop with the Best Reputation in your area.

Ford Bodyshops are generally like Fast Food Restaurants. The food may be cheap and tasty but the Quality sucks! Like a slaughterhouse, they want to get you in and out as quickly as possible.

If you're a picky person, trust me you won't be satisfied.

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Yeah, it was a plain ol' orange highway cone. I was goin' 'bout 65mph in commute traffic at 6:45am. I pulled to the right and surprise! Cones, while not overly heavy, have most of their mass at the base. Guess what part of the cone was pointed at me? What really pisses me off is, there was NO time to do anything but swear.

 

As far as the gas tank goes... ??? I'll get a pic of that tomorrow.

 

Got another gas tank story... crossing a toll bridge I saw a washer bouncing down the lane toward me. No not a washing machine, a washer - flat, round with a whole in the middle. I can't do anything about hitting it, soooo it bounces under my car (1965 Mustang GT coupe'). I hear it hit under the engine, feel it hit under the seat and hear it hit again in the back. I checked the oil pressure whigh was fine. Next thing, I;m stopping at the toll plaza to pay and I smell fuel. I opened the door and leaned out and down to look under and see gas pouring from my tank. Uh, oh!! i pulled away and then stopped about a 1/4 mile later in a turn out. My brother-in-law was in front of me, but I managed to signal him. He came back for me and we carved a piece of wood to fit the hole, pounded it in and I drove back home. Good news was it got me out of moving furniture for the day.

 

If you drive enough miles, you'll encounter all kinds of strangeness.

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Tahoe, that is a crying (literally) shame. Hope you get it back to new as soon as possible. I'd start asking around. People within the car community (drivers, mechanics, salesman) will know who has the best reputation. A good friend of mine runs a large tire/mechanical shop here in town. I ask him what to do. It is usually the independent guy and not the dealers.

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No No and No! I'd definitely be going with the Best Bodyshop with the Best Reputation in your area.

Ford Bodyshops are generally like Fast Food Restaurants. The food may be cheap and tasty but the Quality sucks! Like a slaughterhouse, they want to get you in and out as quickly as possible.

If you're a picky person, trust me you won't be satisfied.

 

Maybe thats why the Dealer I use farms out their paint and body work. :hysterical:

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if what's photographed (+gas tank) is all that's damaged, I would think that the body work would be very limited. Looks to me that the front clip with chin spoiler would be the only things that wound need to come off car and be direct replacement parts from Ford. So the only thing I'd be really worrying about is the quality of their painting skills and ability to color match the Torch Red paint. My guess is because it is new, that they (Ford body shop) should have no problem at all getting it right color-wise. Take a stroll by the dealer that services your ride and peek at their body shop.

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if what's photographed (+gas tank) is all that's damaged, I would think that the body work would be very limited. Looks to me that the front clip with chin spoiler would the only things that wound need to come off car and be direct replacement parts from Ford. So the only thing I'd be really worrying about is the quality of their painting skills and ability to color match the Torch Red paint. My guess is because it is new, that they (Ford body shop) should have no problem at all getting it right color-wise. Take a stroll by the dealer that services your ride and peek at their body shop.

 

 

Yes, I would think that it's a matter of painting and striping skills.

 

Here's the pic of the fuel tank.

 

PICT1454.jpg

 

Go figure. :ohsnap:

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:censored: ? Your going 65mph & driving forward, hit a cone & it caves in the back corner of your tank as if you backed into something? :banghead:

 

:ohsnap: STRANG, VERY STRANG

 

Something Fishy so says ColdwaterHotrod. :headscratch:

 

It is a very odd deal for that dent to be where it is at.

 

Must of been a Major Wedgie.

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:censored: ? Your going 65mph & driving forward, hit a cone & it caves in the back corner of your tank as if you backed into something? :banghead:

 

:ohsnap: STRANG, VERY STRANG

You caught me. I was driving backwards to work on the freeway. I've gotten so used to the 500+HP under the hood that I was looking for some new excitement. It just figures that the first day I try it (here comes another confession) my right Flowmaster falls off and bends my tank. When I slammed on the brakes, those Brembos stopped so well that the Flow kept right on going. I saw it take-off in my auto-dimming rear view mirror, so I reached over and turned off the traction control, slammed the tranny into second, side-stepped the clutch pedal and nailed the throttle for a quick bootleg turn. Unfortunately, I executed the turn so precisely, and with the awe-inspiring acceleration of the Shel, found myself dead-on for a direct hit with the flow. You can see the resulting damage of the massive acceleration driving the nose into the skidding muffler. I'm not sure where the Flow landed, if it did at all, but the last I saw of it it was headed for SoCal at a high rate of speed. Damn, are you sure you're not a fraud investigator for my insurance company Coldwater? ;)

 

Oh yeah, one other thing... I guarantee that that dent occurred during forward motion. It was a very unpleasant wedgie. :ohsnap:

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if what's photographed (+gas tank) is all that's damaged, I would think that the body work would be very limited. Looks to me that the front clip with chin spoiler would be the only things that wound need to come off car and be direct replacement parts from Ford. So the only thing I'd be really worrying about is the quality of their painting skills and ability to color match the Torch Red paint. My guess is because it is new, that they (Ford body shop) should have no problem at all getting it right color-wise. Take a stroll by the dealer that services your ride and peek at their body shop.

 

Agree with Awatters, however check with a Mustang Restorer or any car restorer and ask who does their paint work.

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You caught me. I was driving backwards to work on the freeway. I've gotten so used to the 500+HP under the hood that I was looking for some new excitement. It just figures that the first day I try it (here comes another confession) my right Flowmaster falls off and bends my tank. When I slammed on the brakes, those Brembos stopped so well that the Flow kept right on going. I saw it take-off in my auto-dimming rear view mirror, so I reached over and turned off the traction control, slammed the tranny into second, side-stepped the clutch pedal and nailed the throttle for a quick bootleg turn. Unfortunately, I executed the turn so precisely, and with the awe-inspiring acceleration of the Shel, found myself dead-on for a direct hit with the flow. You can see the resulting damage of the massive acceleration driving the nose into the skidding muffler. I'm not sure where the Flow landed, if it did at all, but the last I saw of it it was headed for SoCal at a high rate of speed. Damn, are you sure you're not a fraud investigator for my insurance company Coldwater? ;)

 

Oh yeah, one other thing... I guarantee that that dent occurred during forward motion. It was a very unpleasant wedgie. :ohsnap:

In a former life I was...They use to call me "Cold Trail Columbo" If that's the story your telling your Insurance company I think they will give a safe drivers discount :yup::hysterical2: Just tell them Cold Trail Columbo checked it out & everthing checked out AOK :hysterical2:

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FYI: I got an estimate today for $2800. The gas tank is $600, the lower grille is $200 and a fog lamp is $111. F'ing cones.

 

 

Ouch! That turned out to be one expensive cone. $600 for a gas tank? That seems a little extreme. And $1,900 in labor? It's a gas tank, grill and fog lamp. Shouldn't take more than an hour to do the install. WTF?

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Ouch! That turned out to be one expensive cone. $600 for a gas tank? That seems a little extreme. And $1,900 in labor? It's a gas tank, grill and fog lamp. Shouldn't take more than an hour to do the install. WTF?

 

 

There are a few other parts<$100 each in there as well. That's also 2 stripe kits (dunno why two), paint.

 

Body labor = 6.9 hours@$72

Paint Labor = 3.9 hours@$72

Parts = $1700

Paint/Misc=$100

Tax = $138

_____________

Total $2704

 

I misstated fuel tank: $525

 

I'm sure the cost would be less if it were out-of pocket, but they always charge full price to insurance co.

 

The only cars I saw in this shop were BMWs/MBZs and one Lamborghini.

 

I spoke with a vinyl graphics guy next door. He said that the factory stripes are VERY thick material. (It is not impervious to stone-chipping, though as I have discovered.) He also stated that the lap joints were REALLY bad, and that if he re-striped the car, his install wouldn't show that.

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